Gunshots rang out on South Arkansas Avenue, just before the old “Truckloads of Odds and Ends” building, headed toward Dardanelle.

“Pull,” someone said, and a clay pigeon was sent sailing through the air. Moments later its debris crumbled in the sky and peppered the open field that stretches before the Russellville Trap Team and their shotguns.

Trap shooting is one of the three major disciplines of competitive clay pigeon shooting, wherein participants fire a shotgun at flying clay targets. The other disciplines are skeet shooting and sporting clays. In trap shooting, targets are launched from a set house, usually away from the shooter.

The Russellville Trap team has trained young sportsman in the area for the last seven years and is coached by Matt Hughes, Dwayne Rambo and Garland Gee.

Rambo got involved when his kids began to show interest in the sport.

“I’m a wildlife biologist with the (U.S.) Forestry Service,” Rambo said. “So I already had an interest there. I’ve been hunting since I was little, so when my boys began showing an interest, I jumped right in on it.”

The Russellville Trap team is affiliated with the Russellville School District (RSD) and the Arkansas Youth Shooting Sports Program (AYSSP).

AYSSP is operated through the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) and aims to teach youth around the state the joy of the outdoors and the benefits of safely learning to handle firearms.

Rambo said the trap shooting team and AYSSP were important not just to hunters, but to those interested in wildlife preservation. In fact, Rambo said the two weren’t mutually exclusive.

“The thing of it is, and I don’t think a lot of people realize this, most hunters are very interested in wildlife conservation,” he pointed out.

Rambo said hunters weren’t trying to cull the woods of wildlife, but would rather protect them and perserve the future of their sport.

“Hunters are on the forefront of habitat reservation and regulation. It’s hunters who see the first issues. People don’t understand that. They think we’re just out there to kill something,” he said.

The Russellville Trap team accepts members between sixth and 12 grades. Rambo said money should not be an inhibitor to interested students.

“We all bring our own guns, so you don’t need to buy a gun straight away,” he said. “The initial cost is very limited. We have a kid here now who took an interest but isn’t a hunter. He’s using my shotgun and we are supplying the shells.”

The trap shooting season runs from May to the end of June with the Arkansas Youth Shooting Regional on May 2. The Russellville Trap team will take 28 members.

Rambo said those interested in joining should contact him at (479) 284-3150, or Hughes at (479) 880-6666. The team practices at 8 a.m. Tuesday and Saturday.